2008 Woodie Awards
Health Center hosting free HIV screenings
Hannah Skewes
Senior Reporter
Issue date: 11/12/07 Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
The University of South Alabama Student Health Center will be hosting free HIV screenings beginning Monday, Nov. 12, through Friday, Nov. 16.
"There's a lot of confidentiality," Emily Ulmer-Feinstein, coordinator of campus affairs, said. "There will be a lot of people there for a sprained ankle or a cold or some other injury or ailment, so no one will know."
Testing will be done at the Student Health Center on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Hours will be from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. On Tuesday, Nov. 13, and Thursday, Nov. 15, the screenings will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Screenings will also be offered in other locations. There will be testing at the Epsilon residence halls on Tuesday, Nov. 13, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. There will also be HIV testing at the Student Center in room 222 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
During these screenings, the nurses giving the HIV and/or AIDS tests will draw blood from students.
There are distinctions between diagnoses of the term HIV/AIDS, collectively. There can be a diagnosis of an HIV infection, a diagnosis of the virus with a later diagnosis of AIDS or a diagnosis of HIV and AIDS, contemporaneously.
One important point stressed by Ulmer-Feinstein and student health is the importance of education of sexual activity.
"It's important to be tested regularly. I worry because I know a lot of people are not exposed to education about sexual interaction," Ulmer-Feinstein said. "I think there is a lack of education at the secondary level, and I think people assume that people are educated about it once the reach an institution of higher learning."
It's estimated that 1,039,000 to 1,185,000 people living in the United States have been infected with HIV/AIDS. In 2005, 37,331 cases of HIV/AIDS infections in adults, adolescents and children had been diagnosed within 33 states with confident name-based HIV/AIDS reporting. According to the Center for Disease Control, around 40,000 people in the United States become infected with HIV each year.
Also according to CDC, about 74 percent of HIV/AIDS diagnoses occur in male adolescents and adults in 2005, while roughly a quarter of the cases occurred in females. Broken down by race, African-Americans accounted for 49 percent of HIV/AIDS diagnoses, Caucasians accounted for 31 percent, and Hispanics accounted for 18 percent. Asian/Pacific Islanders and American Indians/Alaskan natives accounted for less than two percent. These statistics are also based within the 33 states with long-term HIV/AIDS reporting.
The CDC also reports that 47 percent of cases are due to male-to-male sexual contact, while 15 percent is caused by heterosexual intercourse. Drug use by injection accounts for approximately 18 percent of infections.
"We want people to get tested, take control and get treatment if needed. The main thing is for people to educate themselves and take action," Ulmer-Feinstein said.
"There's a lot of confidentiality," Emily Ulmer-Feinstein, coordinator of campus affairs, said. "There will be a lot of people there for a sprained ankle or a cold or some other injury or ailment, so no one will know."
Testing will be done at the Student Health Center on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Hours will be from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. On Tuesday, Nov. 13, and Thursday, Nov. 15, the screenings will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Screenings will also be offered in other locations. There will be testing at the Epsilon residence halls on Tuesday, Nov. 13, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. There will also be HIV testing at the Student Center in room 222 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
During these screenings, the nurses giving the HIV and/or AIDS tests will draw blood from students.
There are distinctions between diagnoses of the term HIV/AIDS, collectively. There can be a diagnosis of an HIV infection, a diagnosis of the virus with a later diagnosis of AIDS or a diagnosis of HIV and AIDS, contemporaneously.
One important point stressed by Ulmer-Feinstein and student health is the importance of education of sexual activity.
"It's important to be tested regularly. I worry because I know a lot of people are not exposed to education about sexual interaction," Ulmer-Feinstein said. "I think there is a lack of education at the secondary level, and I think people assume that people are educated about it once the reach an institution of higher learning."
It's estimated that 1,039,000 to 1,185,000 people living in the United States have been infected with HIV/AIDS. In 2005, 37,331 cases of HIV/AIDS infections in adults, adolescents and children had been diagnosed within 33 states with confident name-based HIV/AIDS reporting. According to the Center for Disease Control, around 40,000 people in the United States become infected with HIV each year.
Also according to CDC, about 74 percent of HIV/AIDS diagnoses occur in male adolescents and adults in 2005, while roughly a quarter of the cases occurred in females. Broken down by race, African-Americans accounted for 49 percent of HIV/AIDS diagnoses, Caucasians accounted for 31 percent, and Hispanics accounted for 18 percent. Asian/Pacific Islanders and American Indians/Alaskan natives accounted for less than two percent. These statistics are also based within the 33 states with long-term HIV/AIDS reporting.
The CDC also reports that 47 percent of cases are due to male-to-male sexual contact, while 15 percent is caused by heterosexual intercourse. Drug use by injection accounts for approximately 18 percent of infections.
"We want people to get tested, take control and get treatment if needed. The main thing is for people to educate themselves and take action," Ulmer-Feinstein said.
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